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Growth, Structural Change and Technological Capabilities. Latin America in a Comparative Perspective

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  • Mario Cimoli
  • Marcio Holland
  • Gabriel Porcile
  • Annalisa Primi
  • Sebastiàn Vergara

Abstract

Countries differ in terms of technological capabilities and complexity of production structures. According to that, countries may follow different development strategies: one based on extracting rents from abundant endowments, such as labor or natural resources, and the other focused on creating rents through intangibles, basically innovation and knowledge accumulation. The present article studies international convergence and divergence, linking structural change with trade and growth through a North South Ricardian model. The analysis focuses on the asymmetries between Latin America and mature and catching up economies. Empirical evidence supports that a shift in the composition of the production structure in favor of R&D intensive sectors allows achieving higher rates of growth in the long term and increases the capacity to respond to demand changes. A virtuous export-led growth requires laggard countries to reduce the technological gap with respect to more advanced ones. Hence, abundance of factor endowments requires to be matched with technological capabilities development for countries to converge in the long term.

Suggested Citation

  • Mario Cimoli & Marcio Holland & Gabriel Porcile & Annalisa Primi & Sebastiàn Vergara, 2006. "Growth, Structural Change and Technological Capabilities. Latin America in a Comparative Perspective," LEM Papers Series 2006/11, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    • Handle: RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2006/11
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Fabio Montobbio & Valerio Sterzi, 2011. "Inventing together: exploring the nature of international knowledge spillovers in Latin America," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 53-89, February.
    2. Naude, Wim & Nagler, Paula, 2015. "Industrialisation, Innovation, Inclusion," MERIT Working Papers 2015-043, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    3. Jorge E, Mendoza, 2007. "Apertura. Gasto Público Y Convergencia En América Latin: Un Modelo Econometrico Espacial [Liberalization, Public Spending And Convergence In Latin America: An Spatial Econometric Model]," MPRA Paper 5561, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Fabio Montobbio & Valerio Sterzi, 2014. "International patenting and knowledge flows in Latin America," Chapters, in: Sanghoon Ahn & Bronwyn H. Hall & Keun Lee (ed.),Intellectual Property for Economic Development, chapter 9, pages 213-239, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Mario Cimoli & Giovanni Dosi & Richard Nelson & Joseph Stiglitz, 2007. "Policies and Institutional Engineering in Developing Economies," Globelics Working Paper Series 2007-04, Globelics - Global Network for Economics of Learning, Innovation, and Competence Building Systems, Aalborg University, Department of Business and Management.
    6. L Carlos Freire-Gibb & Geoff Gregson, 2019. "Innovation systems and entrepreneurial ecosystems: Implications for policy and practice in Latin America," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 34(8), pages 787-806, December.
    7. Kosacoff, Bernardo & López, Andrés & Pedrazzoli, Mara, 2008. "Trade, investment and fragmentation of the global market: is Latin America lagging behind?," Estudios y Perspectivas – Oficina de la CEPAL en Buenos Aires 39, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    8. Amaghouss, Jabrane & Ibourk, Aomar, 2019. "Higher Education and Economic Growth: A Comparative Analysis of World Regions Trajectories," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 72(3), pages 321-350.

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    Keywords

    Latin America; Structural Change; Technological Capabilities; Growth;

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